Oscar’s Leading Men

Simply the best? There’s nothing simple about it. These winners of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ highest honors are equipped with devastating combinations—looks, brains, talent, wit—that put mere mortals to shame. From Dustin Hoffman to Denzel Washington, Tony Curtis to Tom Hanks, here are Oscar’s best actors, as seen in the pages of Vanity Fair.Plus: “Oscar’s Leading Ladies.”

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Nominated for an Academy Award five times, Dustin Hoffman has won twice, for leading roles in Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and Rain Man (1988). From the April 1996 issue. Photograph by Herb Ritts.

Jack Nicholson has been nominated for a best-actor Oscar eight times, winning one for One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) and another for As Good as It Gets (1997). He has been nominated in the best-supporting-actor category three times. From the April 1993 issue. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz.

Eight-time nominee Jack Lemmon (right, with Some Like It Hot co-star Tony Curtis) won a best-actor Oscar for Save the Tiger (1973) and a best-supporting-actor award for Mister Roberts (1955). From the April 1995 issue. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz.

Nominated eight times for best actor (and once for best supporting actor), Paul Newman won an Oscar for his leading role in The Color of Money (1986). In 1985, the Academy presented him with an honorary award, to recognize his many compelling screen performances and his personal integrity and dedication to acting. Newman also received the Academy’s Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, in 1994. From the August 2002 issue. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz.

Tom Hanks won the best-actor Oscar for his roles in Philadelphia (1993) and Forrest Gump (1994). He was also nominated for the award for Big (1988), Saving Private Ryan (1998), and Cast Away (2000). From the June 1994 issue. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz.

Al Pacino won a best-actor Oscar in 1993 for Scent of a Woman. That year he was also nominated in the best-supporting-actor category, for his performance in Glengarry Glen Ross. From the October 1989 issue. Photograph by Annie Leibovitz.

Anthony Hopkins received a best-actor Oscar for The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Since then, he has been nominated twice for best actor, for The Remains of the Day (1993) and Nixon (1995). He was also nominated for his supporting role in Amistad (1997). From the February 1992 issue. Photograph by Wayne Maser.